Interesting. I have never known anyone who did not use the carrier and I just can't understand why so many people use them. They're so bulky and awkward. Good to know!

I guess it's a matter of opinion (and maybe which infant seat?). I find most of the convertibles bulky and awkward! And this is 2yrs into using them, owning five different ones... The large strollers that are often packaged into "travel systems" are generally bulky and awkward which is why we passed on that. And I'm sure if you tried physically carrying the seat everywhere with baby inside it would be uncomfortable. But the seat itself was a huge blessing for us and, when combined with the lightweight stroller frame, made for a nice compact option that saw use 2-3x per day for DS' first year. Our BIL and SIL purchased the same combination and area dreading the day that their son grows out of it, though they also have a real stroller and Ergo that they use depending on the situation.

We went straight to a convertible with DD and planning on it with baby #2 as well. We do have a stroller (that lies flat if needed) but I mainly used a ring sling to carry her. It's a good choice of carriers IMO because baby goes in and out quickly, as needed, and you can do it in the car right after you unstrap them from the seat.

I have back issues so carrying an infant seat would really hurt, especially with how far from your body is sit when you hold it and the extra weight. Having just the baby and keeping it close to my body is much easier on me. Now if I had a newborn in Dec/Jan here I might consider it more but for a spring baby it worked really well.

We never carried the infant seat, per se, because that would have been WAY too heavy. But we did really love using it with the matching car seat carrier frame (Chicco Keyfit 30 and Keyfit Caddy). DS was a terrible napper but always fell asleep in the car -- and transferred to a stroller/carrier poorly until a year. Honestly I would have died without the Keyfit and Caddy. We have a real stroller that we used for walking in the neighborhood or long outings, but especially for going into the drugstore or Target it was so nice not to unbuckle, wake up, rebuckle, then potentially wake up again upon returning home.

Yes, this is why I'd get a travel system. It's so that when your baby falls asleep in the car, you can just move their whole seat from the car to the stroller without waking/unbuckling baby.

It's also useful in extreme temperatures, because you can bring the seat inside so the seat doesn't get too hot or too cold.

Just carrying the seat around by the handle is a waste of energy in my opinion, but the systems are worth it for other reasons.

I used a convertable from day one and baby wear. In 9 months the stroller has been used 3 times to carry bags when I was Christmas shopping I live in an often unpleasantly cold area in Canada and we make it work with no problems. The only way I would consider an infant bucket is if I was having a newbie in the dead of winter, and even then it would stay in the car except on the coldest days.

DD had reflux and hated the car until we could afford a convertible seat at 7 months old. We will be going straight to convertible for this next baby and since I baby wear, the baby will just be put straight into a carrier. Abbie will only be 2.75 years old, so I don't want to try to hold her hand while juggling an infant seat while out alone.

I use a Baby Jogger City Mini with my infant seat. Love the BJCM, and I like the option to take the bucket or not take it, depending on the situation. I just take the bucket in for the preschool runs in the snow/rain, but babywear when there is good weather.

Buckets give you options--you can babywear if you want, but if kiddo is asleep, you can take the bucket into a restaurant and have a nice quiet meal not holding the baby. Esp with multiple kids in the cold and rain, it is worth every penny to be able to drop and go with an infant seat into the base.

__________________

Kristen
Middle school teacher by day, super mom by night
Mommy to The Boss~2007, The Energizer Bunny~2009, and The Princess~2011
My kids are no longer in diapers, but somehow, my computer keeps finding its way back here...

We babywear AND use a bucket seat that has the base that stays in the car. We also live in the Midwest & have unpredictable weather & horrid winters.

I would not even leave the house unless totally necessary right now w/my LO, because it has been 40-50 below w/the wind chill, if I didn't have the bucket seat where he could be fully covered up & carried in to where we are going w/out having to wake him up... oh, & the fact that WE also don't have to stand there freezing our butts off for another 5-10 minutes unbundling him once in a seat to strap him in properly & then having to rebundle him up to carry him in somewhere is priceless!! Our hands are numb after 3 minutes outside right now... no way I want to stand around getting my LO in & out longer than we have to.

In warm weather I almost always leave the seat in our vehicle & babywear him if he isn't sleeping... if he is sleeping I bring the carseat in & then wear him when he wakes up. I do bring the stroller into places that don't have shopping carts though because my diaper bag is HEAVY... as in probably a good 30# ... or I use it for the bucket seat for a sleeping DC when there are no shopping carts or the carts aren't big enough to hold the bucket seat safely in the inside of the main shopping basket.

I didn't get an infant seat with my youngest and don't regret it at all. It worked out perfectly. If you have a carrier you love, it's easy.

My reasoning was that I didn't want to have a bucket seat and a crazy toddler to try to take car of. I'm 4'9, so the infant seat is a hassle as it is. And add a toddler that is fast. No way. I'd much rather putting the baby in the carrier and than take the toddler out and hold his hand.